DOCSLIB.ORG

Gastrointestinal Parasites of the Saimaa Ringed Seal (Pusa Hispida Saimensis)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Gastrointestinal Parasites of the Saimaa Ringed Seal (Pusa Hispida Saimensis) Bachelor’s Thesis Fisheries and Environmental Care 2014 Click here to enter text. Hanna Hongisto GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES OF THE SAIMAA RINGED SEAL (PUSA HISPIDA SAIMENSIS) BACHELOR'S THESIS | ABSTRACT TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES Fisheries and Environmental Care | Ichthyonome Completion year of the thesis 2014 | Total number of pages 30 Instructor(s) Tommi Nyman, Mervi Kunnasranta, Arto Huhta Hanna Hongisto GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES OF THE SAIMAA RINGED SEAL (PUSA HISPIDA SAIMENSIS) The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of parasites in the intestinal tract of the Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis). The material used in this study was collected from seal individuals which were found dead in Lake Saimaa between years 2004–2012. The age of the individuals varied from zero to five years, of which six were pups less than one year old. The examinations were performed in the facilities at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu in May 2014. The intestines were separated from the stomach, and the stomach was weighed. The different parts of the intestinal tracts were then separated from each other. The large and small intestines were measured; the large intestine was cut into two, and the small intestine into ten, equally long pieces. After this procedure, the intestines were opened using blunt-ended scissors and the insides were examined. Parasites were collected with a pair of tweezers and preserved in 99.5% ethanol, each placed into a Sarstedt tube labelled according to the specimen and the part of the tract where it was recovered from. The otholites were placed on a petri dish that was labelled according to the specimen and whether the samples were from stomach or intestines. All in all nine seal intestines were examined, and the total amount of parasites gathered was 1,429. Although the sampling of this work remained rather small, the results support the previous findings in many ways. Out of the nine examined samples, parasites were found from six of them. There were no parasites in three of the youngest pups. The parasites found were exclusively gastrointestinal worms known as Corynosoma magdaleni. This study shows that these worms are clearly adapted to living in the middle section of the small intestine. No worms were found from the large intestine, cecum, or from the first section of the small intestine. Saimaa ringed seal is a critically endangered species. In view of conservation, every study performed on this seal species is extremely important. The study of the seal parasites helps determine the general state of health of this animal, and plan further the protection of the species. KEYWORDS: Saimaa ringed seal, seal, parasite, gastrointestinal, Acanthocephala, Corynosoma magdaleni OPINNÄYTETYÖ (AMK) | TIIVISTELMÄ TURUN AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU Kala- ja Ympäristötalous | Iktyonomi Opinnäytetyön valmistumisajankohta 2014 | Sivumäärä 30 Ohjaajat Tommi Nyman, Mervi Kunnasranta, Arto Huhta Hanna Hongisto SAIMAANNORPAN (PUSA HISPIDA SAIMENSIS) SUOLISTOLOISET Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kartoittaa saimaannorpan (Pusa hispida saimensis) suolistoloisten levinneisyyttä suoliston eri osissa. Tutkimuksessa käytetty materiaali oli kerätty Saimaan vesistöstä kuolleina löydetyistä norppayksilöistä vuosina 2004–2012. Yksilöiden ikä vaihteli välillä 0–5 vuotta. Kuusi yhdeksästä yksilöstä olivat alle vuoden ikäisiä poikasia. Suolten avaukset tehtiin Itä-Suomen yliopiston tiloissa Joensuussa vuoden 2014 toukokuussa. Suolet leikattiin erilleen mahasta, ja maha punnittiin. Suolen eri osat leikattiin toisistaan erilleen. Paksusuoli ja ohutsuoli mitattiin, minkä jälkeen paksusuoli leikattiin kahteen ja ohutsuoli kymmeneen yhtä suureen osaan. Tämän jälkeen suolet avattiin suolisaksilla ja sisäosat käytiin silmämääräisesti läpi. Loiset kerättiin suolen seinämästä pinseteillä ja säilöttiin 99,5-prosenttista etanolia sisältäviin Sarstedt-putkiin sen mukaan, mistä yksilöstä ja suolen osasta näyte oli kerätty. Otoliitit sekä muut kalan osat asetettiin merkatulle petrimaljalle kuivumaan. Kaiken kaikkiaan yhdeksän norppayksilön suolet avattiin, joista loisia kerättiin yhteensä 1 429 kappaletta. Tämän työn otoskoko jäi pieneksi, mutta tulokset tukevat aikaisempia tutkimuksia monin tavoin. Yhdeksästä avatusta suolesta yhteensä kuudesta löytyi loisia. Kolmesta nuorimmasta poikasesta ei löytynyt loisia. Löydetyt loiset olivat yksinomaan Corynosoma magdaleni - väkäkärsämatoja. Madot ovat selvästi erikoistuneet elämään ohutsuolen keskivaiheilla, avauksissa ei yhdestäkään näytteestä löytynyt loisia paksu- ja umpisuolesta eikä ohutsuolen alkupäästä. Saimaannorppa on erittäin uhanalainen laji. Tätä näkemystä vasten on jokainen norpalle tehty tutkimus tärkeä luonnonsuojelun näkökulmasta. Norpan loisten kartoitus auttaa selvittämään tämän nisäkäsalalajin terveydellistä tilaa, jonka pohjalta voidaan laatia suunnitelmia lajin suojelun edistämiseksi. ASIASANAT: Saimaannorppa, norppa, loinen, suolisto, Acanthocephala, Corynosoma magdaleni CONTENT 1 INTRODUCTION 6 2 BIOLOGY 8 2.1 The Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) 8 2.2 Gastrointestinal parasites of seals 9 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS 11 3.1 Samples 11 3.2 The examination of the intestines 11 4 RESULTS 16 4.1 Specimen A 17 4.2 Specimen B 18 4.3 Specimen C 19 4.4 Specimen D 20 4.5 Specimen E 21 4.6 Specimen F 22 5 DISCUSSION 23 5.1 Site segregation 23 5.2 The correlation between the seal feeding habits and parasites 25 5.3 The conservation of the species 25 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 26 REFERENCES 27 APPENDICES Appendix 1. Table of the examined samples. PICTURES Picture 1 Lake Saimaa, Finland (Auttila et al, 2014). 8 Picture 2 Stomach of Saimaa ringed seal, separated from the intestines. 12 Picture 3 The intestines of a seal specimen, with different parts (cecum, large intestine and small intestine) separated for further analysis. 13 Picture 4 A piece of the small intestine ready to be examined for parasites. 14 Picture 5 Corynosoma worms attached to the inner wall of the intestine (Amin et al, 2011). 15 FIGURES Figure 1 The parasite distribution in the guts of specimen A. 17 Figure 2 The parasite distribution in the guts of specimen B. 18 Figure 3 The parasite distribution in the guts of specimen C. 19 Figure 4 The parasite distribution in the guts of specimen D. 20 Figure 5 The parasite distribution in the guts of specimen E. 21 Figure 6 The parasite distribution in the guts of specimen F. 22 Figure 7 The location of parasites in all of the specimens. 24 Figure 8 The average number of parasites in all individuals combined, with their standard deviations. 24 6 1 INTRODUCTION In previous centuries, local people considered the seals to be competitors with fisheries, and currently skeptical attitudes have been expressed towards the extension of fishing restrictions related to seal conservation in Lake Saimaa (Auttila et al, 2014). Although the ringed seal diet in the marine environment has been well studied, only a few studies concerning the diet and foraging behavior of freshwater ringed seals have been conducted so far (Kunnasranta et al. 1999, Sinisalo 2007). The most common method of studying the diet composition in pinnipeds is the identification of prey remains from faeces or within the digestive tracts (Sinisalo 2007). Studies of the intestinal helminth (parasitic worm) parasites of seals offer an alternative approach to study the foraging behaviour of individuals (Sinisalo, 2007). On average, a seal’s digestive tract can be empty within 6–8 hours of feeding (Parsons, 1977), so it is extremely difficult to build a reliable picture of the species’ diet in the long run without a large sample size. So, especially Acanthocephalan (spiny-headed worms) species are good indicators of the past diet over a long term, as they can live within the host for weeks (Valtonen & Helle, 1982). The Saimaa ringed seal, Pusa hispida saimensis, inhabits the lake Saimaa in eastern Finland. Amounting to circa 310 individuals, with an annual birth rate of some 50–60 pups, this subspecies is currently listed as critically endangered in the Red List of Finnish Species (Rassi et al. 2010). Studies of Saimaa ringed seal’s parasites have previously been conducted in the years 1981–2001. These studies showed that contagions are relatively rare in pups under the age of two months, but rapidly increase to almost 40% within fish-eating few-month-olds. By the time the seals reach the age of 18 months, over 80 % of seals contain parasites, with the average parasite number of 60. The older the seals get, the more common gastrointestinal parasite infections TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Hanna Hongisto 7 become. Before the current thesis, the largest found population of Corynosoma magdaleni in one seal individual was 347 (Valtonen et al, 2012). The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of Corynosoma magdaleni in the intestinal tract, and to support the previously conducted studies. TURKU UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES THESIS | Hanna Hongisto 8 2 BIOLOGY 2.1 The Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) The Saimaa ringed seal is a small, landlocked subspecies that lives exclusively in Lake Saimaa in eastern Finland (Picture 1). The differentiation of this subspecies began during the last ice age 11 000 years ago when the Baltic ringed seal (Pusa hispida botnica) was cut off from the stocks of the Arctic ringed seal (P. h. hispida) (Sinisalo et al, 2003). Since then, the Saimaa ringed seal and also its parasites have lived geographically isolated in a freshwater environment
Load more

Recommended publications
  • NMFS Saimaa Seal 5-Year Review 2018
    Saimaa Seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation January 2018 National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources Silver Spring, Maryland 5-YEAR REVIEW Species reviewed: Saimaa seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) 1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 Reviewers ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology used to complete the review: ..................................................................... 1 1.3 Background: ..................................................................................................................... 2 1.3.1 FR Notice citation announcing initiation of this review: .......................................... 2 1.3.2 Listing history ........................................................................................................... 2 2.0 REVIEW ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Application of the 1996 Distinct Population Segment (DPS) policy .............................. 3 2.2 Recovery Criteria ............................................................................................................. 4 2.3 Updated Information and Current Species Status ............................................................ 4 2.3.1 Biology and Habitat .................................................................................................. 4 2.3.1.2 Abundance, population trends, demographic features,
    [Show full text]
  • The Ladoga Ringed Seal (Pusa Hispida Ladogensis) Under Changing Climatic Conditions
    Russian J. Theriol. 12(1): 4148 © RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF THERIOLOGY, 2013 The Ladoga ringed seal (Pusa hispida ladogensis) under changing climatic conditions Irina S. Trukhanova ABSTRACT. The Ladoga ringed seal is a Red listed subspecies of ringed seal, which most critical life cycle stages are closely related to ice presence on the lake. Climatic changes which are observed globally have their impact on local marine mammal populations resulting in shifts in distribution, abundance, migration pattern, disease occurrence, reproductive success. We considered trends in various ice related parameters on the Lake Ladoga since mid-XX century in relation to possible consequences to the Ladoga seal population. Analysis of the probability of winter with 100% ice coverage of the lake showed a statistically significant negative trend. Similarly, negative, though rather weak, trends were observed for sum of negative temperatures in the region and average ice thickness. The total duration of the ice period on the lake has reduced by 13.7% during the second part of the XX century. Maintenance of such trends, though non-significant on short term scale, can cause stress reactions in the Ladoga ringed seal living at the very southern edge of the species global range. KEY WORDS: Ladoga ringed seal, climate change, ice conditions. Irina S. Trukhanova [[email protected]], Baltic Fund for Nature, Birzhevaya liniya 8, Saint-Petersburg 199034, Russia. Ëàäîæñêàÿ êîëü÷àòàÿ íåðïà (Pusa hispida ladogensis) â óñëîâèÿõ èçìåíÿþùåãîñÿ êëèìàòà È.Ñ. Òðóõàíîâà ÐÅÇÞÌÅ: Ëàäîæñêàÿ êîëü÷àòàÿ íåðïà îõðàíÿåìûé ïîäâèä êîëü÷àòîé íåðïû, íàèáîëåå êðèòè- ÷åñêèå ôàçû æèçíåííîãî öèêëà êîòîðîãî ñâÿçàíû ñ íàëè÷èåì ëåäîâîãî ïîêðîâà.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2105.13979V2 [Cs.CV] 24 Aug 2021 Knowledge About Animal Populations Such As Population Size, Moving Patterns, and Social Behaviour
    EDEN: Deep Feature Distribution Pooling for Saimaa Ringed Seals Pattern Matching Ilia Chelak12, Ekaterina Nepovinnykh2, Tuomas Eerola2, Heikki K¨alvi¨ainen2, and Igor Belykh1 1 Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation [email protected], [email protected], 2 Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, School of Engineering Science, Department of Computational Engineering, Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Laboratory, P.O.Box 20, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland [email protected] Abstract. In this paper, pelage pattern matching is considered to solve the individual re-identification of the Saimaa ringed seals. Animal re- identification together with the access to large amount of image material through camera traps and crowd-sourcing provide novel possibilities for animal monitoring and conservation. We propose a novel feature pool- ing approach that allow aggregating the local pattern features to get a fixed size embedding vector that incorporate global features by tak- ing into account the spatial distribution of features. This is obtained by eigen decomposition of covariances computed for probability mass func- tions representing feature maps. Embedding vectors can then be used to find the best match in the database of known individuals allowing ani- mal re-identification. The results show that the proposed pooling method outperforms the existing methods on the challenging Saimaa ringed seal image data. Keywords: pattern matching, global pooling, animal biometrics, Saimaa ringed seals 1 Introduction Automatic camera traps (game cameras) and crowd-sourcing provide tools for collecting large volumes of image material to monitor and to study wildlife an- imals. This has made it possible for researchers to obtain versatile and novel arXiv:2105.13979v2 [cs.CV] 24 Aug 2021 knowledge about animal populations such as population size, moving patterns, and social behaviour.
    [Show full text]
  • The Endangered Saimaa Ringed Seal
    HELPING THE SAIMAA RINGED SEAL TOGETHER The endangered Using a diverse range of measures, the LIFE Saimaa Seal project aims to enhance the conservation of Saimaa the Saimaa ringed seal during 2013–2018. METSÄHALLITUS / JOUNI KOSKELA JOUNI / METSÄHALLITUS The goals of the project are: ringed seal Use seal-friendly fishing methods • to produce broader and updated knowledge on e.g. and avoid snowdrifts home range of seals and the potential threats (Pusa hispida saimensis) • to reduce by-catch mortality By-catch mortality is the most serious immediate • to adapt to the climate change by adopting a method threat to the seal population. Pups, in particular, of man-made snowdrifts to improve the breeding easily get entangled in fishing nets and may follow habitat during mild winters fish into a fish trap, from which they cannot escape. • to reduce human-induced disturbances on seal, and Therefore, use a trap in which the maximum width • to increase awareness about the seal of the opening is 15 cm, even when stretched. There and its conservation. are regional and temporal restrictions for net fishing and for the use of other fishing gears dangerous The project is led by Metsähallitus. to the seals. Angling and lure fishing are seal The project partners are South Savo friendly fishing methods. However, fishing nets are Regional Centre for Economic dangerous to the seal. Development, Transport and During winter, avoid shorelines of islands and the Environment; University islets, as there may be a lair in snowdrift. If the of Eastern Finland; Natural mother seal is frightened by disturbance, such as Resources Institute Finland; snowmobiling, this may interfere with birth or Finnish Association for nursing.
    [Show full text]
  • 21 August 2017 Ms. Angela Somma, Chief Endangered Species
    21 August 2017 Ms. Angela Somma, Chief Endangered Species Conservation Division Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13535 Silver Spring, MD 20910 ATTN: Ron Dean Dear Ms. Somma: The Marine Mammal Commission (the Commission) has reviewed the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) request for information regarding the endangered baiji/Chinese river dolphin/Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) and endangered Saimaa subspecies of ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis)1 for use in its five-year review of their respective statuses under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended (82 Fed. Reg. 28304). The announcement requests information that has become available since the previous status review for baiji/Chinese river dolphin/Yangtze River dolphin in February 2012 and Saimaa ringed seal in December 2010. With respect to the baiji, the Commission is not aware of any evidence that might suggest a change to the statement on abundance and population trends in the previous 2012 five-year review which read: “The last photographic supported sighting was in 2002 and the last confirmed stranding was in 2001 (Turvey et al. 2007). In November and December of 2006, a visual and acoustic survey failed to locate a single baiji leading to conclusions that the baiji is likely extinct (Turvey 2008; Turvey et al. 2007) [Citations in original]. A few sightings have been reported since the 2006 range-wide survey, but these reports have not been verified.” With respect to the Saimaa ringed seal, the Commission notes the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments for all pinnipeds were updated in 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • Identification of Saimaa Ringed Seal Individuals Using Transfer Learning
    Identification of Saimaa ringed seal individuals using transfer learning Ekaterina Nepovinnykh12, Tuomas Eerola1, Heikki K¨alvi¨ainen2, and Gleb Radchenko2 1 Machine Vision and Pattern Recognition Laboratory, Department of Computational and Process Engineering, School of Engineering Science, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland, [email protected] 2 School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation Abstract. The conservation efforts of the endangered Saimaa ringed seal depend on the ability to reliably estimate the population size and to track individuals. Wildlife photo-identification has been successfully utilized in monitoring for various species. Traditionally, the collected im- ages have been analyzed by biologists. However, due to the rapid increase in the amount of image data, there is a demand for automated meth- ods. Ringed seals have pelage patterns that are unique to each seal en- abling the individual identification. In this work, two methods of Saimaa ringed seal identification based on transfer learning are proposed. The first method involves retraining of an existing convolutional neural net- work (CNN). The second method uses the CNN trained for image clas- sification to extract features which are then used to train a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. Both approaches show over 90% iden- tification accuracy on challenging image data, the SVM based method being slightly better. Keywords: animal biometrics, Saimaa ringed seals, convolutional neu- ral networks, transfer learning, identification, image segmentation 1 Introduction The Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) is a subspecies of ringed seal (Pusa hispida) living in Lake Saimaa in Finland (Fig. 1). At present, around 360 seals inhabit the lake, and on the average 60 to 85 pups are born annually.
    [Show full text]
  • Haulout Patterns of Saimaa Ringed Seals and Their Response to Boat Traffic During the Moulting Season
    Vol. 22: 115–124, 2013 ENDANGERED SPECIES RESEARCH Published online December 2 doi: 10.3354/esr00541 Endang Species Res Haulout patterns of Saimaa ringed seals and their response to boat traffic during the moulting season Marja Niemi*, Miina Auttila, Anu Valtonen, Markku Viljanen, Mervi Kunnasranta University of Eastern Finland, Department of Biology, PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland ABSTRACT: Conservation of the Critically Endangered ringed seal Phoca hispida saimensis pop- ulation in Lake Saimaa in Finland requires broader knowledge of the behavioural ecology of this subspecies. Understanding Saimaa ringed seal haulout patterns and their response to boat traffic is crucial for designing sustainable land use and tourism guidelines. Responses of unidentified seals to small outboard motor boat traffic were studied during the moulting season. The median distance at which the seals responded to an approaching boat was 240 m. GPS-phone tags were used to study both circadian and seasonal haulout behaviour patterns of individual seals (n = 8) during the open-water season. The average post-moulting haulout duration was 6 ± 5 h (SD), with a maximum of over 26 h. The seals spent more time hauled out at night (between 21:00 and 06:00 h) after the moult. The time spent hauled out and the haulout frequency declined from early summer to autumn. An individual seal had an average of 13 haulout sites, which were an average of 2.5 km apart. Approximately half of these haulout sites were located in the core 50% of the indi- vidual seals’ home ranges. The high level of site fidelity emphasizes the need to identify suitable haulout areas and to develop measures for protecting the main resting sites of this endangered population.
    [Show full text]
  • Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
    Friday, December 10, 2010 Part VII Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 223 Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Threatened Status for Subspecies of the Ringed Seal; Endangered and Threatened Species; Proposed Threatened and Not Warranted Status for Subspecies and Distinct Population Segments of the Bearded Seal; Proposed Rules VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:23 Dec 09, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\10DEP4.SGM 10DEP4 mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with PROPOSALS4 77476 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 237 / Friday, December 10, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// the finding is to be published promptly www.regulations.gov. in the Federal Register. National Oceanic and Atmospheric • Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK After reviewing the petition, the Administration 99802. literature cited in the petition, and other • Fax: (907) 586–7557. literature and information available in 50 CFR Part 223 • Hand delivery to the Federal our files, we found (73 FR 51615; September 4, 2008) that the petition met [Docket No. 101126590–0589–01] Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK. the requirements of the regulations RIN 0648–XZ59 All comments received are a part of under 50 CFR 424.14(b)(2), and we the public record. No comments will be determined that the petition presented Endangered and Threatened Species; posted to http://www.regulations.gov for substantial information indicating that Proposed Threatened Status for public viewing until after the comment the petitioned action may be warranted. Subspecies of the Ringed Seal period has closed.
    [Show full text]
  • Phoca Hispida)
    Background Document for Development of a Circumpolar Ringed Seal (Phoca hispida) Monitoring Plan Photo: Kit M. Kovacs & Christian Lydersen Prepared by Kit M. Kovacs Table of Contents I. Ecology of the species.................................................................................................. 3 A. Brief review of biology and natural history....................................................... 3 1. Basic biology.................................................................................................... 3 2. General distribution and abundance patterns ............................................. 4 3. Reproductive biology...................................................................................... 6 4. Movements/migrations ................................................................................... 9 5. Seasonal/regional variation.......................................................................... 10 6. Foraging......................................................................................................... 11 7. Competition for prey .................................................................................... 13 8. Predators........................................................................................................ 13 9. Human harvests ............................................................................................ 14 10. Health (disease, parasites, contaminants)................................................. 15 B. Climate change in the Arctic and its
    [Show full text]
  • Recapture Approach for Estimating Population Size of the Endangered Ringed Seal (Phoca Hispida Saimensis)
    RESEARCH ARTICLE A mark±recapture approach for estimating population size of the endangered ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) 1 2 1 3 1,4 Meeri KoivuniemiID *, Mika Kurkilahti , Marja Niemi , Miina Auttila , Mervi Kunnasranta 1 Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland, 2 Natural Resources Institute Finland, Turku, Finland, 3 MetsaÈhallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland, Savonlinna, Finland, 4 Natural Resources Institute Finland, Joensuu, Finland a1111111111 * [email protected] a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 Abstract Reliable population estimates are fundamental to the conservation of endangered species. We evaluate here the use of photo-identification (photo-ID) and mark-recapture techniques for estimating the population size of the endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Phoca hispida sai- OPEN ACCESS mensis). Photo-ID data based on the unique pelage patterns of individuals were collected Citation: Koivuniemi M, Kurkilahti M, Niemi M, by means of camera traps and boat-based surveys during the molting season in two of the Auttila M, Kunnasranta M (2019) A mark±recapture species' main breeding areas, over a period of five years in the Pihlajavesi basin and eight approach for estimating population size of the years in the Haukivesi basin. An open model approach provided minimum population esti- endangered ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis). PLoS ONE 14(3): e0214269. https://doi.org/ mates for these two basins. The results indicated high survival rates and site fidelity among 10.1371/journal.pone.0214269 the adult seals. More accurate estimates can be obtained in the future by increasing the sur- Editor: Mathew S. Crowther, University of Sydney, veying effort both spatially and temporally.
    [Show full text]
  • Liukkonen.Pdf
    Ecological Modelling 368 (2018) 321–335 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecological Modelling journa l homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolmodel Modelling movements of Saimaa ringed seals using an individual-based approach a,∗ b a,c a Lauri Liukkonen , Daniel Ayllón , Mervi Kunnasranta , Marja Niemi , d b,e a Jacob Nabe-Nielsen , Volker Grimm , Anna-Maija Nyman a Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, Joensuu, Finland b Department of Ecological Modelling, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany c Natural Resources Institute Finland, Yliopistokatu 6, 80100 Joensuu, Finland d Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark e German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Movement is a fundamental element of animal behaviour, and it is the primary way through which ani- Received 16 June 2017 mals respond to environmental changes. Therefore, understanding the drivers of individual movement Received in revised form 31 October 2017 is essential for species conservation. The endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) lives Accepted 1 December 2017 land-locked in Lake Saimaa and is affected by various anthropogenic factors. Telemetry studies provide Available online 13 December 2017 critical information but are insufficient to identify the mechanisms responsible for particular move- ment patterns. To better understand these mechanisms and to predict how changed movement patterns Keywords: could influence the subspecies’ spatial ecology, we developed an individual-based movement model.
    [Show full text]
  • Biology and Conservation of the Endangered Saimaa Ringed Seal: a Review
    Biological Conservation 253 (2021) 108908 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biological Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon Review Sealed in a lake — Biology and conservation of the endangered Saimaa ringed seal: A review Mervi Kunnasranta a,b,*, Marja Niemi a, Miina Auttila a, Mia Valtonen c, Juhana Kammonen c, Tommi Nyman d a University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland b Natural Resources Institute Finland, Joensuu, Finland c University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland d Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Svanhovd Research Station, Norway ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Wildlife species living in proximity with humans often suffer from various anthropogenic factors. Here, we focus Conservation on the endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis), which lives in close connection with humans in Saimaa ringed seal Lake Saimaa, Finland. This unique endemic population has remained landlocked since the last glacial period, and Climate change it currently consists of only ~400 individuals. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the Endangered species Saimaa ringed seal, identify the main risk factors and discuss the efficacyof conservation actions put in place to Pusa hispida ensure its long-term survival. The main threats for this rare subspecies are bycatch mortality, habitat destruction and increasingly mild winters. Climate change, together with small population size and an extremely impov­ erished gene pool, forms a new severe threat. The main conservation actions and priorities for the Saimaa ringed seal are implementation of fishing closures, land-use planning, protected areas, and reduction of pup mortality. Novel innovations, such as provisioning of artificial nest structures, may become increasingly important in the future.
    [Show full text]